1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a goods collection assisting system, a goods collection assisting method and a recording medium in which a program for executing the method is recorded. More particularly, the invention relates to a technique which allows any entity, regardless of whether or not it is a manufacturer, to easily reuse used products or goods as resources.
2. Description of the Related Art
While the industrial world, particularly manufacturers, have contributed to convenience and stability of people's social lives, they have deteriorated the natural environment and consumed a vast amount of resources.
In Japan, for example, the existing landfills are not sufficient for the enormous amount of industrial wastes that are discharged, so that illegal dumping of industrial wastes increases and is becoming a serious matter. To protect the natural environment and effectively use resources, therefore, many makers are currently making efforts to construct a circulating economical system which reuses wastes as resources.
The circulating economical system is generally compared to the circulation of blood in a human body. Blood is supplied with oxygen in the lungs and is pumped out to all over the body from the heart through the main artery. The oxygen in the blood is consumed at individual portions of the body. The blood that flows in a vein carries a lot of carbon dioxide instead of oxygen, returns to the heart and is fed again to the lungs.
In the circulation of the circulating economical system, like the circulation of the blood, goods (blood containing lots of oxygen) are supplied (physical distribution through the artery) and wastes (blood containing lots of carbon dioxide) are collected (physical distribution through the veins) to circulate resources.
One of physical distributions through the veins is a system that distributes disused industrial goods as used goods. According to the system, a user proposes the selling of, for example, disused OA apparatuses to a mediator. The mediator buys the disused OA apparatuses and sells them as used apparatuses and used parts. The mediator resells those goods which cannot be sold to consumers to a dismantler for their reuse as resources.
In such a sales system, used goods are not guaranteed by makers, so that users cannot handle the matters that occur through the use of used apparatuses and parts.
To solve such a problem, makers should construct a system which allows the makers themselves to collect disused apparatuses from users. This system is realized by, in Japan, for example, makers who produce lens-equipped films. A plurality of makers of lens-equipped films exchange lens-equipped films collected at processing laboratories with one another and cooperate to build a reuse recycle system. Lens-equipped films that are brought into processing laboratories are sent back to the makers who have produced them. Each maker dismantles the collected units, reuses the lenses, flash substrates, etc. and recycles plastic, paper and so forth.
As lens-equipped films are compact and light, they can easily be sorted by maker and a relatively small space is needed for their storage. Further, because users bring lens equipped films to processing laboratories for development after usage, the makers need to make relatively small efforts to collect them.
Office apparatuses, such as copying machines, are industrial goods which are in good contrast to lens-equipped films.
For example, most of copying machines are relatively large and precision machines that need maintenance. To provide users with the up-to-date capabilities and the latest design on demand, copying machines are generally traded in. Each maker has operated its own system of collecting used copying machines, dismantling them and reusing and recycling the dismantled components.
However, the free sales competition based on the market mechanism is likely to lead to a case where each maker collects copying machines produced by other makers. Because the reuse and recycle system of each maker is not designed for trade-in products manufactured by other makers, the trade-in products are disposed after being shredded by a large shredder or the like. Apparently, it is not possible to effective use collected goods as resources.
Such a problem is not inherent to copying machines but arises in various office machines, such as a printer and a facsimile. Further, a similar problem arises not only in various office machines but also in electric home appliances, such as TV, a washing machine and a refrigerator, and industrial machines, such as a vehicle and a furniture.